By Sarah Richardson
HashtagWV sat down with local artist James Addison this month (who you may recognize from the Wild Bean & Thunderbird Taco where he makes a killer margarita!) to talk about his unique and tech-inspired art style. His works create an almost blended ethereal /cyber vibe, and are intriguing in the details.
Who are you?
I’m James, and I’m originally from South Carolina, but I moved to Lewisburg at the end of 2015 right after I graduated from West Virginia University. I had met a bunch of people there who lived here, and they kinda talked Lewisburg up and told me to move here, so I did!
What kind of art to you make?
Recently, I’ve been doing a lot of digital art, I went to school for that too. I feel like not a lot of artists around here are in that genre, and there’s always new mediums coming out and I like to keep up with that to challenge myself to try new things.
What inspires you? Do you have a theme?
I guess there is kind of a theme across all of it, I don’t think it was intentional, but I’ve kind of steered into combining organic and mechanical things. Anything I draw I always have to throw something electronic or digital or robotic in there. I just think it’s a really interesting mashup. I don’t know if there is a technical name for that.
One piece I did, the woman, I wasn’t entirely happy with, so I hooked my computer up to an old tube TV to give it that pixilated look. I like experimenting with things like that.
Where can we find your work?
Most of my work is on Instagram, @jamesqaddison, and I have some hanging up at The Wild Bean that are for sale right now. I’ve also had art in editions of the Zinebrier (@zinebrier on Insta)
Do you have any advice for an inspiring artist?
I’ve never tried to stay in my safe space, always try to do things, and don’t be afraid to challenge yourself and fail. That’s the only way you’re going to find out new things, if you only stick to what you know, you’re never going to learn anything new. Don’t be afraid to always stay true to yourself, don’t “lie” in your art and do things you aren’t happy with.
.
